Touchpad, light-up top, new analog sticks, and more shown in multiple images.

Multiple sources are now independently reporting that pictures of a heavily modified DualShock controller featuring a touchpad and topside light are actual images of the controller for Sony's next PlayStation.

The shots show what would be the first major aesthetic redesign for Sony's standard controller since the DualShock was first introduced for the original PlayStation in 1997. The central area where the Start and Select buttons used to sit has been replaced in the photos with a large touchpad area, similar to the one on the rear of the Vita. Some reports indicate this touchpad can be clicked for a bit of tactile feedback.

One of the shots of the controller also shows a lit-up blue LED section on the top of the controller, facing toward the TV screen. While this could merely be decorative, many are assuming the light will integrate with a new version of the PlayStation's EyeToy camera to provide Move-style position and orientation tracking for the standard controller. A Sony patent filing that surfaced late last year showed a DualShock controller equipped with two Move-style, light-up "balls" on top. That patent also showed a controller that could be split into two separate handheld units, though there's no indication of this in the current shots.

The rounded convex of the DualShock analog sticks has been replaced in the photos with new thumbsticks featuring a slight concave divot (similar to the Xbox 360 gamepad) which might allow for better grip. The digital directional pad has also been redesigned slightly to eliminate the gap in the center of the four directions (similar to the Vita d-pad), a design which could allow for easier rotational movement in fighting games and the like. There's also what appears to be a speaker grating underneath the touch pad area and a headphone port on the bottom of the controller, possibly indicating a Wii remote-like ability to transmit sound from the controller itself (and an Xbox 360-like ability to plug a headset directly into the wireless controller).

Note the lit-up blue top, which could provide Move-style position tracking.

It's hard to see from current photos if there have been any changes to the shoulder buttons, but a VG247 report earlier this week claimed that the secondary L2 and R2 buttons have been remodeled for the new controller. The standard design of the four face buttons seems unchanged, at least.

The leaked shots show no sign of the "Share" button that some reports have indicated would allow players to easily share videos and screenshots from a running recording of the last 15 minutes of gameplay. This feature could still exist in software, however, even if there's no dedicated button on the controller.

Though exact dimensions are hard to tell from the images posted, the new controller appears to be a little wider than the standard DualShock design, primarily owing to the elongated touchpad in the central section. The full unit also seem a little thicker than the original DualShock, especially on the two grips that extend down from the sides.

Even if these images are of real hardware, the final consumer design might be slightly different from the prototypes that early developers have been given to test. In any case, we'll likely know more next Wednesday, when Sony appears set to reveal more details about its next console at the PlayStation Meeting.

Kyle, no opinions or analysis? Facts are good and all, but would love to hear your thought. Thanks.

Hard to analyze without actually seeing and/or touching it in person. Just based on the pics, though, the touch pad looks kind of too small to be very usable. I think keeping track of 3-space controller position through Move could lead to some interesting hybrid uses, and the new analog sticks look cool.

145 Reader Comments

I don't understand the demand for the asymmetrical analog stick placement design. My left thumb doesn't sit higher on my hand than my right one.

Stone wrote:

marcusj0015 wrote:

Stone wrote:

The PS4 controller should be the PS3 controller without motion controls. No one wants to deal with gimmicky shit in games, as the first round of tilty ps3 games clearly demonstrated.

Because some people DO want that? Just disable it in the console or game settings asshole, you don't have to ruin it for everyone else. Thank Cheezus you're not in charge.

Can you list a single PS3 game where it added to the experience? Don't say Lair.

Also, I'm not sure what a game settings asshole is. Sounds unpleasant.

Zombie Apocalypse. You can shake the controller to shake off zombies without having to let go of the left stick (on 360, you'd have to wiggle the left stick back and forth to shake off zombies. For me, at least, this would entail palming the stick and moving my hand back and forth).

Don't get me wrong; it's still a great game on 360, too, but that SIXAXIS shake feature is really nice.

As a PS3 owner this concerns me because the PS3 Dualshock's battery life is pretty garbage. Making the controller even more complicated is just going to make it worse.

I'd much rather have a simple controller with a battery that lasts ages than a complicated one I have to charge every time I wanna play a game.

If they switch to using user-replaceable AA form factor batteries, this is alleviated. Alternatively, they could stick with the proprietary Li-ion battery back, but design it to be user-swappable. Then at least you'd have the option of buying spare battery packs to quickly swap in.

Ideally, they design a battery receptacle into which you can either slot a proprietary, high-capacity Li-ion battery pack or a caddy with AAs.

The PS4 controller should be the PS3 controller without motion controls. No one wants to deal with gimmicky shit in games, as the first round of tilty ps3 games clearly demonstrated.

Because some people DO want that? Just disable it in the console or game settings asshole, you don't have to ruin it for everyone else. Thank Cheezus you're not in charge.

Can you list a single PS3 game where it added to the experience? Don't say Lair.

Also, I'm not sure what a game settings asshole is. Sounds unpleasant.

Usually I was surprised by needing to tilt in a game but never felt it added to the experience. I think there were a few sections in Ratchet and Clank where you had to tilt to control your movement. I always failed one or two times before I realized they wanted me to tilt the controller and not move a stick. Then it was "Ok, I guess I'll tilt the controller and not touch a stick at all. If I'm not touching a stick while tilting this controller, why can't I just be using the stick? I'm just swapping one control for another if I'm not using both at the same time and not really using the tilt as an enhancement but a crappy substitution. Oh, ok. that part's over now." And really since there's two analog sticks plus thumb triggers you shouldn't make the player tilt until you're making them use both sticks and both triggers and still have something else you need them to control.

The PS3 DualShock controller is old so obviously a new one would have better battery life.

Yeah a new one would if they weren't making it a lot more complicated. That was my point; I'd rather just have a more efficient controller.

Quote:

You clearly don't plug your controllers in while you're not using them. The poor battery life on your controllers is your own fault.

You're right, I don't plug them in when I'm not using them most of the time. You know why? Because the PS3 has the terrible design that the console must be turned on in order to charge the controllers. That was a horrible design decision on Sony's part. Having to buy a separate dock in order to fix this design decision sucks.

It's a solution to a problem which shouldn't exist in the first place.

The 360 and Wii controllers which use AA batteries last much longer on a single set of batteries than the DualShock 3 does on a full charge. Which, again, wouldn't be so bad if recharging the DualShock 3 was convenient. But it isn't.

So I stand by my original point. DualShock 3 already has poor battery life, and I'd rather the PS4 controller be longer lasting than fancier with equal or probably worse life.

I still hate the symmetrical analog sticks. I've gone as far as to buy one of those adapter plugs so I can use my 360 controller when playing my roommate's PS3. It's just so uncomfortable. To say nothing of the actual of the analog sticks themselves. I love that little lip around the 360 analog sticks - provides a nice groove where I can easily control it with the edge of my thumbs. Never could do the same with the PS3's convex heads.

I don't like it because it's the same shape it has always been. I have no idea how people tolerate that controller. It's so small and the bottom triggers are oddly oriented, using it is like trying to squeeze a bar of soap. I have to constantly adjust my hands to keep it from squirting out onto the floor.

I've never had a PS3 controller die on me while playing. Sounds like a typical case of not plugging your controllers while they're not in use. Get a cheap $5 dock or something.

I've had this happen, though I still have the original bulky model with the backwards compatibility and the original controller, so I would have lower battery life. I would say it takes somewhere around 8 straight hours of play to happen though, so you have to be involved in a pretty hardcore gaming session.

Personally, I just bought a 12 foot mini-USB cable from Monoprice for $1.50 so that I can keep it plugged in even if I'm using it from across the room.

As a PS3 owner this concerns me because the PS3 Dualshock's battery life is pretty garbage. Making the controller even more complicated is just going to make it worse.

I'd much rather have a simple controller with a battery that lasts ages than a complicated one I have to charge every time I wanna play a game.

If they switch to using user-replaceable AA form factor batteries, this is alleviated. Alternatively, they could stick with the proprietary Li-ion battery back, but design it to be user-swappable. Then at least you'd have the option of buying spare battery packs to quickly swap in.

Ideally, they design a battery receptacle into which you can either slot a proprietary, high-capacity Li-ion battery pack or a caddy with AAs.

What's wrong with a long USB cable? Or... two controllers? I have both and I usually just swap controllers and plug the spare in to charge while I continue playing. And my 5 year old PS3 Dualshock controllers still go probably 10-15hrs between charges. What the heck do you guys want for battery life!?

As for Flower, I own it, and disagree that motion controls were the best control decision for it. If anything it made it more cumbersome to control.

You are flippin' nuts. The beauty of the game was its simplicity and, er, immseriveness. The fact that there was only one button and everything else was left to banking and tilting like you were the wind was a huge part of what made it awesome and pushed its appeal beyond the hardcore crowd and to the everyone crowd.

I just plug the controller into my PC one night a week. That seems to do the trick - I've never had it die on me. (This might be one of the super-efficient newfangled controllers, though; I got it for Black Friday).

I don't like it because it's the same shape it has always been. I have no idea how people tolerate that controller. It's so small and the bottom triggers are oddly oriented, using it is like trying to squeeze a bar of soap. I have to constantly adjust my hands to keep it from squirting out onto the floor.

I don't even have big hands or anything. What's the deal?

Odd, I have pretty large hands and I've never had an issue with it. They did say that this version is going to be a little larger due to the touchscreen in the middle, so that may help you.

Zombie Apocalypse. You can shake the controller to shake off zombies without having to let go of the left stick (on 360, you'd have to wiggle the left stick back and forth to shake off zombies. For me, at least, this would entail palming the stick and moving my hand back and forth).

Don't get me wrong; it's still a great game on 360, too, but that SIXAXIS shake feature is really nice.

Maybe. But that makes me think about how Little Big Planet 1 had you shake the controller to drop the jetpack. Then in an update or in LBP2 they just let you hit triangle to unhook from the jetpack. Basically admitting that the "shake to do something" feature was unreliable and gimmicky.

Kyle, no opinions or analysis? Facts are good and all, but would love to hear your thought. Thanks.

Hard to analyze without actually seeing and/or touching it in person. Just based on the pics, though, the touch pad looks kind of too small to be very usable. I think keeping track of 3-space controller position through Move could lead to some interesting hybrid uses, and the new analog sticks look cool.

Looks nice, but I am not sure about the touchpad. Wondering if you can actually comfortably reach it with your thumps. Wonder what they will be doing with the Move integration though. Using the SIXAXIS for motion controls worked about as well as eastern German engineering.

As a PS3 owner this concerns me because the PS3 Dualshock's battery life is pretty garbage. Making the controller even more complicated is just going to make it worse.

I'd much rather have a simple controller with a battery that lasts ages than a complicated one I have to charge every time I wanna play a game.

Cord-full FTW

Having to buy an aftermarket USB cable and keep my controller plugged in just because Sony couldn't be bothered to give me a controller with solid battery life AND the capability to charge while the console is on standby/off is pretty stupid.

As a PS3 owner this concerns me because the PS3 Dualshock's battery life is pretty garbage. Making the controller even more complicated is just going to make it worse.

I'd much rather have a simple controller with a battery that lasts ages than a complicated one I have to charge every time I wanna play a game.

Cord-full FTW

Having to buy an aftermarket USB cable and keep my controller plugged in just because Sony couldn't be bothered to give me a controller with solid battery life AND the capability to charge while the console is on standby/off is pretty stupid.

I've got 4 dualshock 3's in the house and battery life has never been a concern of mine. The only game I can think of that even resulted in somewhat shorter life than expected was Borderlands 2, and that's just because it used vibration so frequently. I'd usually play on one controller until it died, then plug the second in to USB, which would be charged by the next gaming session, then I'd grab that one a couple weeks later when the first started warning me of a charge issue. And even if you get the charge warning, you probably have 1/2 - 1 hour of game time left.

One of several reasons I stopped playing anything on my PS3 is because of the controller design: it physically hurts my hands playing it more than 20 or so minutes. The small design and hard edges just don't jibe with my hands. The Xbox controller is like holding melting butter in comparison, if only that one had the analog sticks symmetrical like the PS3 though.

Also I can't take anyone seriously after they say the gamecube controller is pinnacle of design...i just can't.

As for inverted analog sticks, meh go back to xbox. The PS controller is good as is. It really just depends on the person though. IMO side by side analog sticks are better for when you need your index and middle finger resting on the L/R button at all times. It actually is more comfortable to sustain two fingers on both buttons that way. When you do so, your thumb naturally falls onto the analog sticks. When using the d-pad or button your wrist has to roll outward in order to let your thumb fall to a natural position on the pad. This also cause your hands to make a gun shape, dropping one of your fingers from the L/R buttons.

the 360 controller almost forces you to hold it that way though. I always have to use my index to hit both the trigger and R button. Slightly slower and not that big of a deal unless you need the button presses. Could use my middle finger for the trigger, but its kind of awkward and my middle finger doesn't have the same dexterity and sensitivty. its only duty is usually just to hit w or s on a keyboard. :-p

The PS4 controller should be the PS3 controller without motion controls. No one wants to deal with gimmicky shit in games, as the first round of tilty ps3 games clearly demonstrated.

Because some people DO want that? Just disable it in the console or game settings asshole, you don't have to ruin it for everyone else. Thank Cheezus you're not in charge.

Can you list a single PS3 game where it added to the experience? Don't say Lair.

Also, I'm not sure what a game settings asshole is. Sounds unpleasant.

It's almost as unpleasant as your lack of understanding English.

You didn't list a game, as well as having improper punctuation above. Who doesn't understand English?

As for Flower, I own it, and disagree that motion controls were the best control decision for it. If anything it made it more cumbersome to control.

Well, that's easy, I didn't list a game, because I don't have a PS3. and Bickering over the grammar on the internet is almost as silly as your argument, but you seem a little too rigid to change your ways mid stroke, so I won't take a point off for that.

Is that what a devkit looks like? Huh. For some reason, my PS3 dev version looks exactly like the retail unit... o_o Down vote me, I don't care :-)

More on topic, it looks like that may be a little more comfortable to hold, but it is really hard to judge something like that based on a picture. It's probably a legit image, but we should know more on Feb 20th.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.